Hi azmanatheart,
I think your instincts about the infection are right on! From your detailed description, it sounds typical of an inflamed and/or perforated sinus from a long standing infection from that tooth.
The initial sensations in your nostril prior to the root canal were indicative of the onset of the infection. The root canal procedure does nothing to cure the infection in the tooth because it is not possible to access the microscopic canals which will always harbor infectious bacteria. The only way to cure the infection is to remove the source which is the tooth.
To perforate the apex of this tooth is the worst thing you could do because it would be like opening up a faucet of infection and giving it easy access to travel to... the sinus or further. The bump high up on your gum is a fistula which is the body's way of creating an outlet for the pressure that has built up from the infection. The pressure is what is causing the pain. The fistula is a temporary release, it does not mean the infection is leaving the tooth. To keep the fistula open, rinse 3-4 times a day with warm salt water and use your lips to make a drawing sensation as if to pull from that area. DO NOT swallow this water.
Your concerns about this infection becoming systemic are again right on! Our teeth are intricately connected to the rest of our body. Infections in our teeth can and will cause physical illness. If your dentist is not making this connection, he is misinformed big time! He may be a nice guy, but he needs to step outside of the tooth carpentry box and get some additional education on the whole body connection.
Here is the link to my post about what a root canal is to help give you a better idea of what is going on..
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread163589.html
Here is a tooth and organ chart depicting the real whole body connection. This information has been around for many centuries originating with chinese medicine.
http://www.naturalworldhealing.com/D...organchart.htm
Please use your instincts about this tooth, they are correct, it is in the bone, it has been festering for awhile and is moving upward. There is no cure for this infection other than to remove the tooth. Root canal therapy does not cure an infection.... it simply "retains" an infected tooth. To keep the tooth means to keep the infection. I know this is very difficult to hear and deal with. Please, do not just go along with the old standard of care routine... become better informed instead.
Please let us know how you are doing.
Bryanna
Quote:
Originally Posted by azmanatheart
Hi,
I'm a new poster, and I'm impressed by the level of professional involvement in this forum.
I had all my upper teeth capped with zirconium crowns. During the grinding process, one of my front inscisers became sensitive, and the root below the gumline became very tender. Here is the interesting part: For the past 2 years, I've had the sensation at the opening to my nostril directly above this tooth that there was something 'raw' in my sinuses or nasal passage, but I've never been able to find it. I've inserted Q tips into the lower part of my nostril fully expecting to find blood or pus. Never did.
Now that I finally had that tooth root canaled, it went absolutely crazy in the space above my tooth and when I gently tap on the bottom of my nostril, that former "sinus pain' is obviously the infected root apex of the tooth. The root canal procedure did not produce any drainage or blood at all. I'm on Amoxicillin, which had been prescribed to me 3 months ago to keep it in check, but which stupidly I didnt think to take before the procedure.
Now, 3 days after the root canal, I have a swelling under my nostrils that make it look wide open, and there is no drainage anywhere that I can tell. I've been in touch with my dentist, (who is great, but is a GP,) and expressed my concern that aside from exquisite pain, I am starting to feel systemically sick, and questioned if this can become blood sepsis. He said no, but my heart is beating pretty quickly, but have no fever.
Nontheless, I have an appointmeht to go there in 2 days to have it sealed up. I told him I was converned that there was no drainage, and that it would not heal, or worse. He said he planned to 'poke' through the apex of my tooth to try to initiate drainage, which seems like maybe a decent plan, but I'm thinking that this is a bad infection, which has probably been festering in the bone which I can feel by tapping the inside lower rim of my nostril. There is also now a big swollen area inside my lip at the top of the tooth.
Any thoughts about this? I want to save the tooth, but I want the infection out, once and for all.
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